The Catskills slow lane is just the ticket for this Woodridge traffic judge
It’s never fun to get a speeding ticket, but if it happens in Woodridge in the summer, at least you can have a pleasant conversation with the judge while sharing the courtroom with others like yourself — not exactly criminal types, just going a little too fast for this laid-back town. For Judge Kalter, life in the Catskills slow lane has been just the ticket
On this Wednesday evening toward the end of summer, the long, low municipal building in Woodridge, New York, feels as heimish as a daled minim market. People holding places in the line running alongside the building and down the street exchange greetings with acquaintances, and small clusters form, little groups chatting to pass the time.
At precisely 6 p.m., the doors open, and the chief of police, John Calvello, sits at the table in a tiny office receiving litigants, one by one. I am part of a crowd made up primarily, but not only, of Orthodox Jews — everyone bearing similar papers, tickets issued by the Woodridge police department over the past few weeks. On this evening, as on every Wednesday at six, court is in session.
The conversations go fairly quick. Plead guilty, get a reduced charge, lower fine and points, and then, once you agree, you get to go through the metal detectors into the courtroom of Village Justice Ken Kalter for the actual sentencing.
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